Looking Back
by PetertheChameleon
Summary: Their last moment and first moment together, separated by sixty years. A simple fluff piece for Kanna and Pakku. Written for an lj V-Day Avatar kissing meme. One Shot.


**A/N and Disclaimer: **I do not own the awesome characters in this fic. I am not making awesome money, or living out an awesome lifestyle with Mike di Martino, Bryan Konietzko, or the collective Nickelodeon Network. I wish I was. :(

This was written for an Avatar kissing meme on shinyglorchan's LJ. Since ffnet is my repository for any and all fanfic I've ever written, I'm posting it here. Also, since I posted it anonymously to the meme, I can't prove it's mine.

…pretty sure that won't matter, though.

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"So you're really leaving."

Kanna sighed, her hands resting along the waterproof skin of the kayak. She knew she shouldn't look up, but she did anyway, pushing herself to her feet in order to face him.

"Yes," she said, her eyes on his boots as she brushed one of her hair loops behind her ear.

"I had heard from Yugoda, but I didn't believe it..."

She didn't respond, waiting for him to stop her. Waiting for him to argue with her. Waiting for him to stand in her way, just as he and this ridiculous marriage had stood in her way for so long.

"Kanna, you can't go." But the cold derision that had always characterized his voice was missing now, only desperation filtering through. "What will you do? It'll take days to reach the Earth Kingdom, if a Fire Nation ship doesn't catch you first."

"I can do it, Pakku. I'm not afraid." She finally met his gaze and was once more struck by how much he looked like his father. Except the typical condescension was also gone. He just looked…scared.

"I know you're not. But I am." He took a step closer to her, and she took a step back.

"Don't stop me. You know I can't stay here. I can't…" She couldn't marry him, but she couldn't say that to him, either. "I don't belong in this world."

"You belong with me, Kan-"

"That's the point!" Her temper was getting the best of her, and she forced herself to calm down. "I'm sorry, but I have to go." And once more, she turned away from him.

"You're keeping your betrothal necklace," he said as she continued packing the kayak. At that, she paused, her hand reflexively going to her neck. The black of the band must have peeked through; she'd never intended for him to see that. "You might be trying to escape, but there's obviously something about this world you want to keep."

It wasn't like that. At least, she didn't think. With a troubled frown, she shook her head to rid it of doubts and shoved a pack of sea-prunes into the boat. But then his hand was on her shoulder, and when she glanced up, he was kneeling beside her.

"Take this with you, too." He kissed her. A quick brush of his lips against hers, so brief that she barely felt the warmth of his breath. Instinctively her eyes fell closed, the sensation of his fingers on her jaw sweeping away all thought.

And then he stood, the fleeting moment over even before it began. "Someday, Kanna, I'll want it back." Swallowing, she stared up at him, hardly believing it. He was letting her go? Without even a fight? His blue eyes looked wounded, but his sad smile was full of love.

Ignoring her hammering heart, she turned back to her kayak. And she didn't look up as his footsteps retreated.

She wasn't going to look back ever again.

Six decades would pass before she remembered that kiss and that promise. She married, had children. The necklace that had once represented her prison and had eventually represented her deepest secrets was passed on to her granddaughter, taking all her memories with it. And she thought, perhaps, after all those years, she was truly happy.

When he arrived on the shores of their ruined village, she hardly recognized him. Yet something in her knew immediately who he was. He no longer looked like his father, his hair snow-white and the disdain completely gone. Still, his gait was full of pride and his eyes full of intent – so much like the Pakku she remembered. Without hesitation, he approached her.

"Hello, Kanna."

She probably surprised him by kissing him. Especially since she lingered on his mouth – none of those silly chaste kisses. They were adults now. And when she pulled back, he stared down at her, stunned but delighted.

"I thought I'd give that back," she said with a half-grin, pushing a hair loop behind her ear. "I've been holding onto it for a while."

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**A/N: **I'm really tempted to label this AU, as I don't actually envision the scene of Kana's departure going down this way. But I wanted to write a simple fluff piece, without any attached deeper meaning. Pretty sure this qualifies. Plus it borders on the melodramatic (doesn't help I was imagining a really flamboyant telenovela while I was writing it). Kana and Pakku are one of my guilty pleasure couples, right up there with the newly birthed Piandao/Ursa by plushulala. So I will probably – hopefully – write for this couple again, and write it right the next time.


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